Austen Brauker - Playwright

What is your heritage (whatever that means to you)?

I am a human being. The Earth is my nurturing energetic mother. My biological mother is Odawa and German. My biological father is Irish and maybe a mix of other European tribes. In the lodge all people are the same color of spirit, and though I appreciate the sentiment of racial pride, it seems like a blockage point for most people, and cements divisive ties to race or nation instead of bringing people together in a meaningful way to defy the old descriptions and come up with a new way to view ourselves as a species, not just racial divisions within the species. I believe that the wolves, bears and trees are valid citizens as well, and that they are as much my tribe as any human being, because we need them, along with the plants too, to survive.

Where will you be watching the Festival from?

I will be watching from Red Bluff, California.

Is this your first time at Native Voices?

This is my first time working with Native Voices, though I have been writing for a long time. I have been more involved in screenplays than theatrical presentations. I also write poetry and short stories, and have written two feature novels. I have completed 5 feature screenplays and have several shorter ones that I am working on.

What compels you to write?

Nothing compels me. I do it or I don’t. Sometimes I go years between writing. I will make music for a year, then do paintings and physical art for a while, then back to writing. I don’t care to become famous or rich, so I do what I want when I want for who I want. This is artistic freedom. I have no goals for accolades or cash. I have no care for what anyone else thinks of my work, either they like it or they don’t. Honest art is awesome. Art made just to sell is shallow trash.

Do your characters have lives outside of the slice you are showing here?

Most of my characters are either dead, in jail, or in some kind of rehabilitational facility  working or whatever issue it was that made them interesting in the first place, seeking the hiding place that a label normalcy might provide. Other characters are medicated beyond communication, and still others have not been caught, and are hiding in the shadows waiting to count coup on themselves when their backs are turned.

How does listening to a stage reading of your play help? 

It shows whether or not people are laughing and crying in the right places, or at least the intended places. It draws severe attention to crappy dialog. It highlights expository monolog narratives that drive plot through descriptions rather than actions. A live read is good for testing one’s mettle. Editing is where the real writing happens, and a person must be able to take the scalpel to their work, unflinchingly cutting off arms legs and faces, piecing it all back together, until the best monster can be stitched together from the Shellian/Frankenstonian fragments.

Where can people find you on Social Media?

Hiding. But really, just type a search. Too many places to count. Youtube. Spotify. Itunes. All over.